How to Create a Basic Resume Format for Freshers

As a fresher entering the job market, creating a compelling resume can help you land your dream job. You can effectively present your qualifications and stand out to potential employers with the right format and content.

Creating a successful resume as a fresher involves effectively showcasing your education, skills, and relevant experiences. By structuring your resume well and focusing on key elements from job descriptions, you can make a strong impression on recruiters.

Resume format for freshers

A basic resume for freshers is similar to the resume someone with more professional experience might use. You'll fill in as much as possible in each section and add any other miscellaneous information that might help promote you as a good candidate for a job. Include the following personal details:

1. Header 

2. Personal statement 

3. Education 

4. Experience

5. Relevant skills

6. Languages 

7. Additional sections to showcase what you have to offer

1. Header 

Start by adding your contact information to the top of the page. This may be the easiest part, but ensuring you get it right is essential so interviewers can contact you. Keep it simple with your full name, address or city, phone number, and email address. 

If you have professional social media accounts such as LinkedIn or Twitter, add the links to those below your contact information. Make sure that any social media you add is professional enough for your employers to view, and only add it if it enhances your career. Also, if you need a more professional email address than the one you currently use, create one, preferably with some version of your full name.  

3. Personal statement 

Next, write a concise yet accurate personal statement summarising who you are and what you want in two to three sentences. Get straight to the point. As a fresher with little or no work experience, you'll want to highlight other aspects of who you are, though you will want to incorporate your current job goal.  

Here, you can briefly discuss your education and mention any internships, relevant part-time jobs, awards, or certifications you've earned. You can also highlight your top skills. Highlighting your skills is an excellent idea if they match up with the wording used in the job advertisement.  

Creating a personal statement takes some thought and creativity. A good sample personal statement might read something like this: 

Recent university graduate with a degree in business administration and a passion for customer service, seeking an entry-level role in retail. Highly organised, excellent communicator, and great problem-solver, as demonstrated through a part-time job in sales and a three-month internship at XX store. 

Read more: Types of Resumes: Choosing the Right Format For Your Needs

3. Education 

As a fresher, you may have little or no work experience related to your new career field, so focus on your educational background instead. List any postsecondary schools you've attended, dates of attendance, dates of graduation, and degrees you've earned. You can also add additional information if it's favourable, like your GPA, relevant coursework, significant projects, any clubs or societies you participated in, scholarships, honours, and any awards or accolades you earned. 

Start the entry with the degree or school name if you attended a highly respected university. Choose the one you think will get the most attention. Follow with the dates attended, and then add any remaining information in order of importance. 

4. Experience 

Being a fresher doesn't always mean you don't have any work experience. Many people work their way through university or take on part-time jobs. You might have cared for your neighbour's child on weekends in secondary school. If you have work experience, add it to your resume so that the interviewer knows you have successfully held a job, even if it is unrelated to the job you're applying for. 

Start the listing with the role or title you had, like "cashier", "customer service representative", or "barista". Place the dates of the job below the job title. You can add the months and years instead of using exact dates. You'll also want to list the name of your employer. Next, list your key responsibilities and any skills you gained.  

What to do if you don’t have work experience? 

You have few options if you have yet to gain work experience. If you participated in any internships, you could list them here instead. You can also list any volunteer work you have been a part of. You can even list extracurricular activities here, like if you were a university sports team member or a student body president. Major projects you've completed, like research or website building, can also be added to your work experience section. 

5. Skills 

As mentioned earlier, when you list your skills, you want to match them to the job you are applying for and use similar language. For example, if the job requires someone who is a good communicator, highlight your communication skills. 

To list your technical skills and your workplace skills, consider making two separate lists. Under workplace or human skills, you can list general skills like communication, time management, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Under technical skills, you can list skills like data analysis, Microsoft Office, technical writing, or social media marketing. 

Read more: CV vs Resume: What’s the Difference?

6. Languages 

If you speak multiple languages, highlight this under your skills section. If an employer seeks someone bilingual, this can be a significant advantage. As you list your languages, be sure to add whether it's your native language or you're fluent in it and if you can speak, read, write, or understand it or all four. 

7. Additional customised sections 

Whether you're a fresher with little to no work experience or you've been working for decades, there's a standard rule that your resume should only be one page long per each 10 years of experience. Meanwhile, you may need help filling in the page. If you've focused on your experience, list your skills and work or similar experiences. If you still have space, add a section that tells the recruiter more about you. Some acceptable ideas include the following:  

• Certifications 

• Awards you've earned

• Hobbies and interests

• Volunteer experience (if you didn't use this in the work experience section)

• Links to a personal blog, website, or portfolio that showcases your skills

• Additional courses that didn't fit into the education section 

• What you're most proud of accomplishing in life 

• A personal philosophy 

• Personal and professional references

• Any other miscellaneous skills that you couldn't fit into your skills section 

Read more: How to Write a Cover Letter and Get Noticed

Learn more with Coursera. 

In a competitive job market, freshers with limited experience can still create a compelling resume. Build a basic resume structure that highlights your educational background, any work experience (including part-time jobs or internships), and your skills. By including a concise personal statement that summarizes your goals and qualifications, you can grab the attention of recruiters and increase your chances of landing an interview.

To prepare even further for entering the world of work, consider taking an online course on Coursera. You'll find options that can prepare you for everything from resume writing to job interviews, offered by the biggest names in business and education worldwide. Consider courses like:  

• Writing Winning Resumes and Cover Letters by the University of Maryland 

• How to Write a Resume (Project-Centred Course) by the State University of New York 

• Interviewing and Resume Writing by the University of Maryland 

• Land Your Next Role by Aptly 

• The Art of the Job Interview by Big Interview